Macroeconomics of US Tablet PC Industry

by Jason Shaw
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The introduction of the first modern tablet, the Apple’s iPad, the United States’ PC market reemerged into the computer market. The reintroduction of these tablets has created new competition platform against major laptop and desktop PC manufacturers especially those who did set to obtain an early advantage in the market. Form the initial stages, Apple was the dominant iOS manufacturer and supplier within the United States tablet PCs markets (Taylor and National Bureau of Economic Research, 1984).  However, Android tablet PCs are emerging and are expected to surpass Apple in the coming year. As a result, the aim of this essay is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the tablet PC market in the United States by describing the current factors influencing the industry’s development (Langdana, 2009). Furthermore, the research would look at the variables that are behind this market’s development as well as the underlying growth strategies that must be pursued in order to keep up with the current pace.

Following Apple’s launch of the iPad, there has been fierce rivalry among the world’s big table manufacturers. Samsung released the Galaxy tablet around five months after the iPad was released (Alvarez, 2007). As a result of Apple’s overwhelming rivalry, the tablet PC production industries have developed or launched many players since then (Langdana, 2009). For example, following the introduction and availability of the iPad PC tablet, a number of tablet manufacturing industries, including Asus, Lenovo, and HP, among others, launched a number of tablet PC models into the market; therefore, it is important to remember that the significant product and marketing decisions in these industries are primarily driven by stiff rivalry within the sector (Dhir, 2004).

Macroeconomics of US Tablet PC Industry

Notably, it seems that the new demand for these tablet PC manufacturing sectors is mostly focused on tablet production. As a result, the sustainability of these sectors will be primarily determined by how these tablets are used. To put it another way, as the use of these tablets shifts to another unit, it means that these businesses would fail (Taylor and National Bureau of Economic Research, 1984). Tablet PCs have a business space that is controlled by their expected uses. Panel size, delivery networks, and operating platform are all factors that influence use. Understanding the business domain of tablet PCs in the United States needs an examination of these variables. According to some industry reports, tablet PCs are mostly intended for personal use in the United States. Nonetheless, it is anticipated that these tablet PCs will be introduced or planned for consumer use over time. In turn, once they are introduced into the enterprise world, they are supposed to save money on top of the expenses associated with notebooks and personal machines.

Apple’s iOS operating system has the highest percentage of the portable PC industry in the United States. Apple was able to do that because of its first-mover edge (Silvia, 2011). Google’s Android operating system is ranked second, whereas other vendors such as Samsung, HP, Motorola, Lenovo, and HP are ranked higher in the stock market.

The Tablet PC Market

The industry pattern for tablet PCs can be examined using three macroeconomic variables: stock indexes, unemployment rate, and exchange rate. This three factors typically have a big impact on the retail trend, since high price indexes influence how people purchase the goods they like. Tablet PCs are emerging innovations on the market, and their development and manufacturing have been costly, resulting in high tablet costs. On the other side, a high unemployment rate has a negative impact on off-farm wages, especially for farm operator families (Matsumura and Moreira, 2005). Furthermore, unemployment rates typically influence the pace of flow and supply of capital for non-essential goods, which can have an effect on tablet PC sales. The value of the dollar is generally influenced by exchange rates (Sauert, 2010). This has an impact on currency prices in customer or consumer countries, which in turn has an impact on agricultural product demand.

The transparency market research report indicated that the tablet PC market within the united states tablet PC manufacturing industries are affected by industrial analysis, share, size, growth and forecast. Additionally, in the between the year 2012 and 2018, it is projected that U.S. tablet PC industries will have shipped 34.2 million units. Within this period, a growth rate 71.16 million units are expected and this translates to CAGR of nearly 13.1 percent for the same period (Taylor and National Bureau of Economic Research, 1984). From the same study, it was revealed that the 2010 iOS based tablets PCs have the largest share that accounts for more than 80 percent of the total United States’ tablet market. The table and graph below shows the sales of the tablet PC within the United States’ market per tablet manufacturing industry for the years 2012 and 2013. Singling out the tablet PCs, it apparent that Apple usually registers the highest sales of these electronics followed by Samsung and the rest follow as indicated in the pie chart below.

Tablet market share (in percentage )
Vendor Q3 2013 Q3 2012 Year-over-Year
Increase/(decrease)
Apple 29.6 40.2 (10.6)
Samsung 20.4 12.4 8.0
Asus 7.4 6.6 0.8
Others 42.6 40.8 1.8

Macroeconomics of US Tablet PC Industry

Graph 1: Annual sales for the tablet PC industries

Macroeconomics of US Tablet PC Industry

Pie Chart 1: Annual sales for the tablet PC industries

Evaluate Macroeconomic Policies

Numerous recent research works have indicated that developing and applying macroeconomic evaluation tools are effective in stabilization policies. The choosing these tools usually depend on empirical data from industrialized countries (Silvia, 2011). The data set from industrialized nations usually cast compelling on the neoclassical growth model’s ability to satisfactorily provide the aggregate fluctuation accounts. To responds to these challenges, the economists introduced the new Keynesian model as an alternative model or frame to be applied in understanding the business cycles (Bryant, Hooper, Mann, 1993).  Notably, the main difference between the new Keynesian model and neoclassical is that the neoclassical provides numerous nominal and real distortions that when applied in the analysis of a market helps in providing meaningful stabilization policies that reopen the markets doors after decades of democracy. Therefore, allocation of these models is effective policy evolution in relation to the tablet market domains in the United States.

Additionally, the above models are perfect in understanding the current fiscal policies in the United States among other industrialized nations. Using the same understanding, it is apparent that the United States has high volatile and smooth distortionary income tax rates (Silvia, 2011). Therefore, the tablet PC industries within this market economy experience suppressed inflation that is equivalent to nominal asset holdings lump sum tax (Langdana, 2009). These conditions usually shocks government spending and may lead to unexpected tax base declines; therefore, creating price level changes. These uncertainties usually affect affects the decision making in the tablet PC industries thereby affecting their production and sales. In essence application of such policies usually aims at restraining inflation towards promoting investment in targeted sectors of the economy.

Short Term Outlook

It is apparent that the relationship between the Tablet PC performance and the macro variables can either promote industrial growth or hinder the same. Extreme effects of micro economic variables may lead diverse effects in the promotion and development on the tablet PC industries. For instance, if a large number of citizens are relieved from their jobs, this will affect the economy and the buying habit of these tablet PCs; thus, affecting sales of these industries (Bryant, Hooper, Mann, 1993). If such effects last for three month, most of these industries are likely to be affected immensely. On the other hand, changes in government or trade policies may also affect demand of tablet PC products either positively or negatively. For instance, if the government introduces a policy regulating the use of tablet PC in any form or ways, consumers may never want to predict the next move of the government; thus, most of them may refrain from buying products that the government intends to regulate (Taylor and National Bureau of Economic Research, 1984). Therefore, the cost of such diverse policies may affect the business and the economy of a country immensely.

References:
  • Alvarez, M. (2007). Market data explained: A practical guide to global capital markets information. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann.
  • Bryant, R. C., Hooper, P., & Mann, C. L. (1993). Evaluating policy regimes: New research in empirical macroeconomics. Washington, DC.
  • Dhir, A. (2004). The digital consumer technology handbook: A comprehensive guide to devices, standards, future directions, and programmable logic solutions. Amsterdam: Newnes.
  • Langdana, F. K. (2009). Macroeconomic policy: Demystifying monetary and fiscal policy. New York: Springer.
  • Matsumura, M., & Moreira, A. R. B. (2005). Can macroeconomic variables account for the term structure of sovereign spreads?: Studying the Brazilian case. Rio de Janeiro.
  • Sauert, D. (2010). Do Macroeconomic Variables have an Effect on the US Stock Market?: Empirical Evidence in the Case of the S & P 500. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.Bottom of Form
  • Silvia, J. (2011). Dynamic economic decision making: Strategies for financial risk, capital markets, and monetary policy. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.
  • Taylor, J. B., & National Bureau of Economic Research. (1984). New econometric techniques for macroeconomic policy evaluation. Cambridge, Mass: National Bureau of Economic Research.

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